NVIDIA revenue up 17 percent from last quarter

NVIDIA reported a second quarter fiscal 2010 revenue of $776.5 million, down 13 percent year-over-year, but up 17 percent versus last quarter. The visual computing company recorded a net loss of $105.3 million, or $0.19 per share, compared with a net loss of $120.9 million, or $0.22 per share a year ago.

One of the main reasons for the loss is a net charge of $119.1 million related to the company's problems with weak mobile GPU packaging material. Excluding this item and other one-time items like stock-based compensation, the company recorded a profit of $37.7 million, or $0.07 per share, compared to $74.5 million, or $0.13 per share, a year earlier. NVIDIA beat expectations, as Thomson Reuters analysts were estimating a loss of 2 cents per share on a revenue of $710.2 million.

"NVIDIA's business is recovering. Product demand is improving, and our strategic investments are leading to new growth," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer, NVIDIA. "Our two newest businesses began to ship meaningful amounts of product this past quarter and show significant promise. Tesla, the industry's first GPU for general-purpose high performance computing, achieved its highest-ever quarterly revenue. And Tegra, our ultra low-power computer-on-a-chip, is making exciting progress in the market for mobile and embedded devices. Our new businesses are positioned to benefit from the rise of mobile and cloud computing."

NVIDIA's second quarter results were impacted by an additional net charge of approximately $119.1 million to cover costs related to a weak die/packaging material set that was used in certain versions of its previous-generation chips. Although the number of units impacted by this issue remains consistent with the company's initial estimates a year ago, the cost of remediation and repair of impacted systems has been higher than originally anticipated. In July 2008, a $196.0 million reserve was accrued for the purpose of supporting our affected customers around the world. The weak die/package material combination is not used in any products currently in production.